Sadly Steve Reid passed away earlier in the week. Below are his words from a momentous performance in London a couple of years ago.

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This is a special night

This is a night of good vibrations

This is a night of love

This is a night where the past and the future meet

BBC Radio 1

Gilles Peterson Radio music awards

This is your thing…your show

This is your music

You know this music

This Worldwide thing…

it’s about rhythms,

it’s about staying in the rhythms.

it’s about strengthening your LUUUUURRRRVVVEEEE

and the strength this music gives you

it’s about the rhythms

it’s about reggae

it’s about JAZZ

it’s about Africans

it’s about latin

it’s about hip hop

its about dubstep

it’s about HOUSE

It’s about all of em

it’s about Rap

This music is gotta be planted in your heart

It’s like a seed

Seed time and harvest time never stop

Seed time and harvest time never stop

This music is playing for you with passion from our hearts

We love you and we express it thru our music

It’s important that you receive it ….accept it

It’s to give you strength

Its to give you joy

Its to make you feel good

Think good…act good

This music is one of the things you can trust

You can trust the beat

You can trust the beat all the way

You can’t trust the politicians, you can’t trust the money, and you can’t trust the religion

But you can trust the beat

This is a special night… Worldwide Gilles Peterson…all the beautiful fantastic performers tonight and djs

And about the DJs…YO..they’ve kept it alive, they’ve kept the music out front

You know, this is a special thing..

You can hear a lot of varieties of music…The Worldwide thing is the reason you do.

*serious serious drum roll*

I come from the Bronx…I come from Motown

My family is Marvin Gaye

My family is Thelonious Monk

My family is James Brown

My family is Miles Davis

My family is Sun ra

My family is Jimi Hendrix

My family is P-Funk

My family is Bo Diddley

All of us are also all your family

It’s all one thing

It’s the music it’s the beat

You know it’s nice to get funky sometimes

There could be pressures, there could be tensions… there could be bullshit

You gotta keep up getting strong loving one another

*another serious drum roll*

This music can give you THE WAY TO GO

Enjoy this night… enjoy if you can trust in yourself enough to love somebody you don’t like HELLO

This is the 2008. You wanna gotta kick off the HATE – no HATE in 2008 no HATE in 2008

It’s about the LOVE

The evening is about to begin

I want everyone to take a deep breath and be happy…enjoy yourself

That is what life is for…you supposed to have enough of everything there is no shortage of anything

Keep what’s in your heart pure…DO THE RIGHT THING

Stay in the rhythm

Love one another

Thank you for coming tonight. Thank you for your support for the year before that and the year before that and tomorrow

This music is for you…we have to make it…and you’all have to listen to it.

It’s a good thing…it’s good for everybody

Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen.

The video of the performance can be viewed here. Thanks to Dayo for the transcription.

Rest In Peace Steve.